Chevrolet Volt - North American Car of the Year

Variety of major publications has been pouring the Car and Truck of the year awards. The 2011 Chevrolet Volt won the best car of 2011 award. Both the Motor Trend and Automobile have announced Volt as the Car of the Year. General Motor's EV is a finalist for the North American Car of the Year award. The 2011 Hyundai Sonata is expected to be one among the finalist for the Car of the Year award but there was no surprise when the Volt was named as the car of the year because everyone expected it.

The Detroit Free Press announced the second and third choices for Car of the Year award and these places were occupied by the Hyundai Sonata and Nissan Leaf. These two vehicles are also the finalists for the North American Car of the Year award.

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Top 10 Concept Cars of 2010

10. Jeep Nukizer Concept

9. Lotus Esprit Concept

8. Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta by Pininfarina

7. Renault Dezir Concept

6. Mercedes-Benz CLS Shooting Break Concept

5. Lamborghini Sesto Elemento Concept

4. Mazda Shinari Concept

3. Jaguar C-X75 Concept

2. Audi Quattro Concept

1. Porsche 918 Spyder Concept

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Update on 2012 Porsche 911

The Porsche 911 is ready to be updated and if the rumors are to be believed then 2012 would bring one of the most significant changes to sports cars. Auto Bild, the German automotive magazine believes that the next 911 will undergo changes in the vehicle's proportions and would be different from the current generation. The rear-engine coupe would be over 2.2 inches longer and wear a roof line that's nearly half an inch lower than the outgoing design.

Auto Bild also suggests that the engineers at Porsche have made a new 3.4-liter boxer good for 345 horsepower. As usual, Carrera S models will wear wider flanks, this time with the flares adding some 2.4 inches. The meaner of the two cars will also pack a 3.8-liter boxer six that puts out 395 ponies.

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2010 BMW 760Li Images

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GM launches Sail EV Concept in China

General Motors entered the Guangzhou Motor Show with 23 production and concept vehicles. Out of these the most interesting was the Chevrolet Sail Electric Concept Vehicle. This EV was worked with a partnership between Shanghai GM and the Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center. While the new EV uses the recently-introduced Sail for most of its bones, it ditches the internal-combustion engine in favor of an electric motor and lithium-ion batteries.

This tiny EV can cruise up to 93 miles before recharging. You need to recharge it everyday since the charge can only be available for 93 miles. As of now, there's no indication whether GM will produce the Sail EV concept, but the General really wants to expand its electric vehicle lineup here in the United States.

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Volkswagen's New Beetle Limousine

The Volkswagen's New Beetle limousine is a fine piece of machinery up for bid from New Jersey's Route 22 Limousines. This stretcher has everything including a grey leather interior, television, minibar and trippy mood lighting.

This machine gets its power from the Beetle's stock 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine bolted to the same four-speed automatic gearbox that it used from the factory. Loaded with screaming teens, we have to imagine that this thing gets to 60 mph in about the same time frame as our grandmother.

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Honda's new Li Nian S1

Honda has introduced a sedan on the Chinese market called the Li Nian S1 or Everus. This little car gets its bones from the likes of the Honda City which Honda says that the vehicle is based on existing architecture. The Everus will be available with either a 1.3-liter or a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine when this sedan goes on sale in spring 2011.

Honda says that Everus is the company's oldest nameplate in China, and that the new model will help the Japanese automaker expand its line up in one of the quickest-growing automotive markets in the world.

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Mercedes B55 using big V8 and little B-Class

A handful of trainees at the Mercedes plant found that the big engine, small car combo would be the easiest way to mint cheap speed. Peter Wesp, the plant manager squeezed a 5.5-liter 385 horsepower V8 from the likes of the big E550 into the Silver Arrow's trim B-Class.

Wesp and his team set about the mechanical contortions necessary to pull off the swap. Surprisingly enough, the workers were able to use the original engine mounts, and with a little parts-bin raiding, everything was sitting pretty under the hood. The team snugged in a rear axle from a W 2010 E-Class, front brakes lifted from a C32 AMG and bolted on snazzy 18-inch wheels from AMG as well.

Source: autoblog.com

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Lamborghini's tricolore edition Gallardo

Reports said that Lamborghini would be launching a new two-tone Bicolore edition of the Gallardo at the upcoming Detroit Auto Show. But this week's reports indicate that a Tricolore edition would also be in the works.

The second special-edition Gallardo would not be a three-tone model, but a Tricolore in the sense of the Italian flag. The country is preparing to celebrate a national milestone, its 150 years of unification which Lamborghini might celebrate with a patriotic edition featuring the red, white and green.

Source: http://www.eurocarblog.com/

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Hyundai Sonata Vs Kia Optima

The Koreans have captured the auto market. Both the 2011 Hyundai Sonata and 2011 Kia Optima, rank very highly on the midsize sedan pecking order chart. Members from Inside Line decided to pit the two sedans, which share major components and assemblies, against each other in a no-holds-barred fight for supremacy.

Both use 2.4-liter four cylinder engines and six-speed automatic transmissions, and both weight nearly the same – picking a winner means delving into the details. The details more favored Kia than Sonata because IL found that the Optima is tuned more for the enthusiast as opposed to the competent and comfortable nature of the Sonata.

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2011 Lexus CT 200h starts at $29,120

The little hybrid hatchback needs an attractive price if Lexus has any hope of selling 1,000 CTs each month in U.S. The rumoured base price of $29,120 would be enough to get a very good traffic in Lexus dealerships. This pricing data was leaked a day ahead of its planned arrival.

Lets assume that these prices are accurate, the 2011 CT 200h will be the least expensive new Lexus sold in America. The base price for the IS series and HS 250h hybrid sedan is several thousand dollars higher.

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Honda's new 2012 civic model

Take a look at the next generation 2012 Honda Civic model. This picture is intended to give the world an idea of what we can expect from the Civic show car Honda will display at the Detroit Auto Show. The compact coupe will take the look of the current Civic and throw in some additional attitude. Along with some aggressively swept headlamps reminiscent of the European Civic Type R. Honda has a long history of rolling out concepts that are nearly identical to the real deal, so keep your eyes on Detroit for what could be the first look at the next Civic.

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Hyundai i40/Sonata wagon gets ready

At the upcoming Geneva Motor Show in March, Hyundai is preparing to launch a new European D-segment model Hyundai i40 Sonata that will compete against vehicles like the Ford Mondeo and Volkswagen Passat. Hyundai i40 has been designed and developed in Germany by the company's European R&D center in Rüsselsheim.

The i40 will be available on sale shortly after its debut in Geneva in wagon form, with a sedan version expected to follow. The engine range will include a 2.0-liter, direct-injection four-cylinder producing 170 horsepower and a 1.7-liter turbodiesel with outputs ranging from 115 horsepower to 136.

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Audi R18 - A diesel racer

Audi has released its latest LMP1 racer, the R18. After winning nine times in the Le Mans 24 Hours since 1999, the Ingolstadt-based automaker aims for the top spot with a closed coupe again. Dr. Wolfgang Ullrich says that aerodynamic efficiency will be more important at Le Mans in the future.

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Fiat 500 Bicolore at Bologna Motor Show

Fiat rolled out one of the several upcoming special edition 500 models. The new 500 Bicolore made its debut at the Bologna Motor Show. As its name implies, the Bicolore model features a two-tone paint scheme in candy-apple red and white. Fiat finishes off the changes to the Bicolore by fitting it with unique alloy wheels and trimming the interior with some chrome accents.

Fiat describes this model as an unprecedented combination that recalls the retro world of '50s American cars and pop art'. The Bicolore is powered by one of Fiat's most fuel efficient engines available: the turbocharged two-cylinder 0.9-liter TwinAir, which cranks out 85 horsepower.

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Hybrid and diesel tax credits ends on December31

If you’re still in the market for a hybrid or clean diesel car, you should definitely try to get one this holiday season since most tax credits will be expiring on December 31. Among the diesel models, the Mercedes ML350 BlueTec is one of the victims, while the natural gas-powered 2011 Honda Civic GX will also lose its $4,000 tax credit. The same goes for the recently introduced 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and 2011 Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid.

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Ford B-Max minivan coming to Geneva

Ford is getting ready to compete against the Opel Meriva small minivan in Europe. Ford will be bringing an all-new B-segment van to next year's Geneva Motor Show. The new minivan should begin its production towards the end of 2012. The company has already made it clear that its Craiova, Romania facility will be tasked with constructing a new B-segment fighter sometime soon, and news has it that the vehicle will be more people mover than hatchback.

If true, that means that the new van is likely to carry the B-Max moniker to keep in line with creations like the C-Max and S-Max. In Europe, Ford has relied on its aging Fusion people mover to carry the company in the small-car segment, and the aging platform has begun to slip over the past few years. While it once held the number two slot, the Fusion has fallen to be the fifth most popular vehicle among the B-segment vans.

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Volkswagen Golf R20 headed to U.S

It's just been a couple of years since Volkswagen's R32 graced America's shores but now it has a successor, the Volkswagen Golf R20 model which was tuned by the in-house R team at Volkswagen. This car should be more exciting than its already entertaining forebear.

Unlike the R32, the new model will be powered by a turbo charged turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. The European version currently on sale conjures up 270 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Along with the power increase, VW is promising bigger brakes, an uprated suspension, 18-inch wheels, center-exit dual exhaust and a more liberally tuned ESP.

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Chevrolet's small car to be called Sonic

GM has announced that its new B-segment car will be called Sonic. The 2012 Aveo was first launched at the Paris Motor Show and the vehicle will officially start production in 2011 at GM's Orion Assembly Center in Michigan.

The Sonic nameplate will only be available in United States, Canada and Mexico and for other markets the name will be Aveo. The reason for the name change here in North America is that Sonic represents a new beginning for Chevrolet and hence it was given a new name. The new car is roomy, stylish and fun to drive, and Sonic is a youthful, energetic name that helps convey what this vehicle is about.

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2012 Hyundai Azera

We recently got our first official information about 2012 Hyundai Azera but the South Korean car maker keeps updating information about its sedan that will find a place between the Sonata and Genesis.

In South Korea, Azera will be offered with a choice of two naturally aspirated engines, both featuring direct-injection technology. The base model will be powered by a four-cylinder gasoline unit found on Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima while the flag ship version has a 3.0-liter GDi V6 delivering 270HP and 31.6 kg/m of peak torque.

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Lotus Renault - the new kid on 2011 Formula 1

Lotus takes the “Renault F1 Team” and the new team is named “Lotus Renault GP” that will compete in the 2011 Formula 1 season. This is not the first time that the two companies have worked together in Formula 1, as in the 1980s, Lotus used turbocharged engines sourced from the French carmaker.

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2012 Audi RS6 Sports Sedan

It's been just a few days since Audi pulled the veils off the fourth-generation A6 premium sedan, and we already have a photoshop rendering of the future RS6 created from EDL. Granted, the production model would most likely sport blistered wheel arches while it wouldn't sit so close to the ground, but the 'chop gives us an idea of what an RS version of the new A6 would look like.

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Ferrari 458 Challenge at 2010 Bologna Motor Show

Time has come for the 458 to taste the Maranello magic. The Ferrari 458 Challenge has been debuted at this year's 2010 Bologna Motor Show. This is the fifth model to get placed into a single-series racing program. The Challenge keeps the same 570 horsepower engine as the standard 458 Italia. Ferrari has focused on reducing the thickness of the body panels, as well as introducing materials such as carbon fiber and Lexan. All the upgrades found on the Ferrari 458 Challenge result in a potent, track-ready machine that is faster than the 458 Italia.

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2011 Subaru Impreza WRX

The headline news for the 2010-to-2011 changeover is that the WRX gained the STI model's widebody fenders and 1.3-inch wider track. High-performance tires certainly contributes to the stability of WRX. The tires are about 235/45R17, a centimeter wider than the 2010 edition.

The 265-horsepower turbocharged 2.5-liter flat-four sounds great. Unlike most cars, the WRX emits a unique exhaust note thrum that enthusiasts can ID without a pause in conversation, and the engine itself emits a muscular howl as it moves up and down the power band.

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Audi pushes for solar program

Audi will be introducing a new solar program for its eTron electric vehicles. Audi is also planning to expand its solar panel system so that electric vehicle's batteries may be charged using clean, renewable energy from the sun. It hopes to cover some 80,730 square feet of the plant's roof with new photovoltaic panels. By the end of the project, it will have nearly 205,000 square feet of its German manufacturing facility's roof covered with the solar cells and the new installation alone can produce enough electricity to power 180 homes.

Source: Audi

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Toyota to fix over heating problems in 378,000 prius hybrids

Toyota's US division has issued a limited service campaign on approximately 378,000 U.S-spec Prius hybrids from the 2004 and 2007 model years to resolve the over heat problem caused with the water-pumps.

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The 2012 Audi A6

The German automaker's new 2012 Audi A6 sedan has leaked out. The stylish front and rear LED lighting treatments, and the interior appears to be a thing of beauty. The powerplant options which Audi will bestow upon the 2012 A6 is not yet known, but the car has has a six-cylinder turbo diesel. Globally, we're counting on a full slate of gasoline and diesel engines along with optional Quattro all-wheel drive, while in the States we're likely to get a couple of petrol engines, a single TDI option and standard AWD.

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